News

The Chad Booc Story: A Lumad Teacher's “Encounter” With AFP Resulting to 5 Casualties

by Patrick Raphael Ulibas

April 27, 2022

Chad Booc, a volunteer Lumad teacher, and a human rights activist, together with another volunteer Lumad teacher Gelejurain “Jurain” Ngujo II, community health worker Elgyn Balonga, and drivers Roberto Aragon and Tirso Añar were all found dead in an “encounter” between Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), on the morning of February 24, 2022.

It was known that Save Our Schools (SOS) Network sent out a group composed of five members (Booc’s group) for research work to be conducted in Davao de Oro last January.

The group, later on, went back to Davao City last February 23.

Additionally, according to SOS Network, it was said that Balonga asked her family members to fetch them as soon as they reached the city.

However, it was the last time they had contact with Balonga on February 24, and they were caught in an “encounter” with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Their deaths were reported on the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, February 25.

The military justified the casualties by claiming that these five volunteers were armed members of the New People’s Army. However, in contrast to this claim, it was known that five victims were civilian non-combatants, and their relationship with the NPA was denied by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

On the contrary, the CPP claimed that there was no encounter with the NPA during that day. It was just a narrative used by the military “to neutralize suspected communist rebels in an encounter to cover up a cold-blooded murder.”

Later on in the autopsy, it was reported that the manner of Booc’s death was a homicide, forensic expert Raquel Fortun said.

Included in the report are multiple lacerations on his body parts such as in the lungs, diaphragm, liver, spleen, stomach, intestines, right kidney, and right adrenal glands. Fractures were also noted, and a broken elbow.

Aside from that, upon Fortun’s further inspection, fractures were also present in the spinal column, including a transected spinal cord.

Fortun mentioned that due to the embalming of the body, there were limitations imposed on the forensic analysis. She also mentioned that she would need to have access to Booc’s clothes as it would be essential in determining the entry and exit points of the gunshots. Aside from that, she deemed it necessary to have the details from the four other bodies as well to reconstruct the crime scene. Hence, this requires an investigation of the case.

Numerous cries for justice were heard on social media as this news broke out to many. Hashtags like “#JusticeForNewBataan5” made some noise on Twitter last March to seek out the truth about the deaths of the five victims.

This is yet another case of red-tagging of the civilians by the state organizations, mainly AFP and NTF-ELCAC, in their continuous pursuance of the NPA.